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What is Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning?

Understanding thermal energy and how HVAC systems can be used to harness heat energy in commercial and residential buildings is important to multiple stakeholders including building owners, real estate developers, utilities and occupants. In this article we focus on answering the most common questions we hear – what is HVAC and why is it relevant? We also reveal some interesting facts!

What is HVAC?

Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) is the technology of indoor environmental comfort. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. HVAC system design is a sub-discipline of mechanical engineering, based on the principles of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer. “Refrigeration” can sometimes be added to the field’s abbreviation, as HVAC&R or HVAC-R.

Why is HVAC relevant?

The development of modern air conditioning has allowed for advances in medical technology, longer human life expectancy, a reduction in the spread of diseases that were once very common, and, in warmer climates, dramatically increased employee productivity.

Innovative technologies for the heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration of Canada’s homes and buildings (including commercial and recreational facilities), are required to enable us to meet the vision of market-feasible net-zero energy solutions by 2030 and to reduce electrical demand at peak times. Energy efficiency, equipment life expectancy, and sustainability are key concerns for today’s HVAC users.

Did you know?

The Romans were the first civilization to use any type of warm-air heating system.

Multiple inventions during the late 1800’s marked the beginning of the first comfort air conditioning system; designed in 1902 by Alfred Wolff (Cooper, 2003) for the New York Stock Exchange. The same year Willis Carrier equipped the Sacketts-Wilhems Printing Company with the process AC unit.

As air conditioning use soared in the 1970s, the energy crisis hit. In response, lawmakers passed laws to reduce energy consumption across the board, setting the stage for the Energy Department’s Appliance and Equipment Standards Program, which establishes a single federal energy efficiency standard for air conditioner manufacturers rather than a patchwork of state-by-state standards.

Learn more

Interested to know more about HVAC, refrigeration and plumbing solutions – especially the benefits and payback – why not drop us a line? Contact lryan@enersolv.ca.